Alright so last week I got this itch to figure out exactly who played for Spain when they won the World Cup back in 2010. Don’t know why, just popped into my head. Needed to see the full squad names and positions, the real starting lineup, the whole deal.
Where I Started
Went straight to my dusty football notes first. Found a crumpled page mentioning Fernando Torres and David Villa, but positions were scrawled all messy. No good. Couldn’t remember who else was there besides the big names. Pulled out my laptop then.
Opened up my browser – typed something like “spain world cup squad 2010 players list”. Clicked the first few things that looked decent, not the ads obviously. Knew some sites are junk, full of pop-ups or wrong info.
Sifting Through the Mess
Kept seeing similar names across different sites, okay good sign. But annoyingly, some had slight spelling differences: “Javi Martinez” or “Javier Martínez”? That kind of junk. Also, positions sometimes got confusing. One site called David Silva a striker! Had to check three or four sources to be sure.
Grabbed a scrap of paper and started scribbling down players and positions as I confirmed them. Messy handwriting, almost spilled coffee on it. Typed it up properly after:
The Full Team List
Goalkeepers (3 Guys):
- Iker Casillas (Captain, the main guy)
- Pepe Reina
- Victor Valdes
Defenders (7 Dudes):
- Carles Puyol
- Gerard Piqué
- Carlos Marchena
- Raúl Albiol
- Sergio Ramos (Played RB mostly!)
- Joan Capdevila
- Álvaro Arbeloa
Midfielders (The Brains, 8 Players):
- Xavi Hernández
- Andrés Iniesta (Scored the winning goal!)
- Xabi Alonso
- Sergio Busquets
- Cesc Fàbregas
- Javi Martínez
- David Silva
- Juan Mata
Forwards (The Goal Scorers, 5 Players):
- David Villa (Top scorer for Spain!)
- Fernando Torres
- Pedro
- Fernando Llorente
- Jesús Navas
Double-Checking and Realizing Stuff
Counted ’em up – 23 players total. Made sense for a World Cup squad. Cross-checked my scribbles with a couple of reliable-looking football history sites. Names matched up.
Interesting to see guys like Busquets and Pedro back then – super young! Forgot Mata was there too. Also confirmed Casillas was definitely captain, Puyol was the rock at the back, and that midfield… Xavi and Iniesta running everything. Villa banging in the goals.
The starters for the final? Casillas; Ramos, Piqué, Puyol, Capdevila; Busquets, Alonso, Xavi; Iniesta; Pedro, Villa. Torres started some games too, but Pedro got the nod later on. That midfield trio was just insane control.
Done! Took longer than expected thanks to those wonky websites and my messy notes. Feels good to have the full, confirmed list sorted out properly now. That 2010 team was something else.